Drama Review: The Master’s Sun

This was one of my loves when it came out. A woman who can see ghost constantly lives in fear and sleep deprivation meets her snobby chaebol and her lucky amulet. The premise is interesting as usual, coming from the Hong Sisters who did You’re Beautiful, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and The Greatest Love, just to name a few. And as usual, we all have great hopes on this one. I waited quite a while before I decided to review this because I wanted to let the fever die down and allow an objective review here. When you are in the heat, everything is just candy-coated so yeah.

What I loved:

It was quirky and it had a hint of mystery. All the horror and ghost had good storylines and you had to admit, they really scared the heck out of me in the first few episodes. I’m not sure if kids can watch this, that kind of scary(I have low horror tolerance T.T). Then again, Korea has had scarier movies like Hon, Wishing Stairs etc so maybe this IS mild. Of course, there would be some story behind each lost, wandering soul where our heroine steps in and resolves. Every episode is concluded with a ghost resting in peace and little advance on the main plot aka Cha Hee Joo.

Gong Hyo Jin and So Ji Sub has wonderful chemistry with each other. And I’m slightly upset they couldn’t explore that further like…on the bed. Fine, given it is a 15 and above viewing, I shall pardon that. BUT, the kissing could have been worked on. HOW CAN THEY UNDER UTILIZE SO JI SUB? He is like ace in the kissing department and all we get is a smooch, or maybe two. OH WELL. But kudos for making up by inserting lots of skinship. It’s a cheeky method to get our heroine stuck like glue on our hero but it works. And the audience go crazy for it. This is exactly why Hong Sisters are so loved, they are so creative in getting our leads shipped together. The convos are great as well, full of meta, humor and foreshadowing. You have to love their script writing skills.

OST is great too! Fine, I love all drama OST but they bring significance into the story and I think Touch Love by Mirae related really well to the plot.

On characters, I think I love watching Tae Gong Shil’s grow. She starts out being ace then drops to pit bottom as she lives a life no one else could understand. Her constant fear causes her to shrink and she tries to hide from it all. When she sees hope in Joo Won being her salvation, she starts moving towards living like a normal person and adapting back into society. What I love more is that she finally accepts her ability and learns to channel the fear into something else. It’s fun to see her grow a backbone and gradually become independent of Joo Won. Then, the tables are turned when Joo Won realizes that he needs her, not the other way round. Yip yip hurray!

Gong Hyo Jin is in a familiar territory and I have to say, her character felt like her previous characters. She gives the same vibe but somehow makes it a different kind of viewing experience. She has had a lot of underdog drama with alpha males (see Pasta, Greatest Love) so I’m not exactly sure if she challenged herself with this role. It just fits her snugly.

Could be a scene from Hon

Tae Gong Shil’s failed date. Her miserable life.

Joo Won has a typical chaebol personality but I love how he is so picky and penny pinching. That is such a comic relief. And he actually works unlike some other chaebol! He learns to become more human with Tae Gong Shil and ironically, how to live as well. I think the cutest thing about all that is how he trust Tae Gong Shil implicitly, he starts talking to air, rubbish cans and dogs in dreams. He doesn’t know it neither does he admit it at first but he sincerely believes in Tae Gong Shil although she seemed like a maniac. I think So Ji Sub pulled a surprise on everyone for doing rom-com since he is predominantly in melos. Rom-com do save reputations (think Song Seung Hoon in My Princess) and it did remarkably improve his reputation.

It’s also an irony how the thing that brought them together, drifts them apart. There comes a point where Gong Shil wants to be free and Joo Won could not understand why. Despite so, he finally lets her free to go and do what she wishes. It’s great he respects her an all and it gives them the chance to be together for love, not because of their needs.

Joo Won and his shiny golden toy

I actually quite liked Joo Won’s uncle and his aunt. SO MUCH COMEDY. Although it worries me we are going to have that ‘you shall not marry her because we are from different worlds’ lecture, I believe it was quite short and Joo Won was obviously not going to let anything else influence his decisions. Except perhaps business. Nonetheless, he did save her life, so it’s even now?

What I don’t quite enjoy:

The ghost stories become quite repetitive after a while. But that’s better than the Cha Hee Joo story honestly. Cha Hee Joo’s arc was predictable especially when they brought in Hanna Brown. I will try minimize spoilers but no guarantees. I couldn’t feel Joo Won’s pain most likely because his child version sucked so bad.

AMNESIAAAAAA, why did we need this again? So that we can prove true love?? NO LIKEY.

Second leads are doomed. Well, as much as I love Seo In Guk in Answer 1997, he couldn’t unleash full acting potential here. I didn’t fall in love with him or found a dilemma in thinking about who to ship Tae Gong Shil with. That’s probably one of Hong Sisters trademark. OTP are just meant to be. Second leads….will have to find some other second lead. His storyline with Tae Yi Ryung however, provides slight comic relief so his character is not beyond saving.

The ending was a tad anti-climatic but if you love neatly tied endings, it would be perfect.

All in all, I believe that Master’s Sun had done its job at being a rom-com. Why did I give it a 6.5? Well, I’m judging it as a drama comparable with other genres so it loses out a little. Rom-com do tend to have less substance. However, as a rom-com, it’s definitely a good watch and something I might want to watch again somewhere in the future. If you love rom-com and you are curious about the horror, WATCH. If you don’t feel like you’re in the mood for cotton candy or leaving logic behind the gates, then save it for a rainy day. If you love So Ji Sub, WASTE NO TIME and START WATCHING 🙂

I have Jiu Lu Fei Xiang's and Lin Jiacheng's express consents to translate Sansheng, Wangchuan Wu Shang and Mei Gongqing for non-commercial purposes. It is illegal to take my translations outside hamster428 without prior consent or to receive any monetary gains from them.